Supermicro Computer, Inc. v. Digitechnic, S.A.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
145 F.Supp.2d 1147 (2001)
Digitechnic (defendant), a French company, repeatedly purchased computer parts from Supermicro (plaintiff), a California manufacturer, and each shipment came with a sales invoice containing limited-warranty and damages-disclaimer terms. After finding parts defective, Digitechnic demanded full replacement and consequential-damages costs, but Supermicro pointed to the invoice's disclaimers to argue liability was limited to part replacement; Supermicro sued in the United States seeking a declaration limiting its liability under Article 35 of the CISG, while Digitechnic moved to dismiss or stay, offering evidence it never knew of the disclaimers and would not have bought the parts had it known.
Whether, under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, warranty and damages disclaimers in a sales contract may be invalid if the buyer is unaware of the terms.